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#September

Creating a space where kids school aged can do work and pre-school kids can be creatively and practice their skills is so important in making sure you lay the foundation for good study skills.

When tight on space the kitchen table often becomes the best option. As parents prepare dinner; questions can be answered, daydreamers can be brought back down and the unmotivated can be re-directed. I had to create a quick and easy solution so when it was time for homework to pause and dinner to hit the table it was a quick clean up.

In a quick afternoon project we make this colorful caddy using

old soup cans

spray paint

a ribbon

hot glue gun

toilet paper tubes

Wash and clean empty tin cans. Using a variety of sizes worked well for us. Peal the paper labels off and get ready for painting. Spray paint two coats of any color of your choosing.

Wait until dry and place a vertical line of hot glue on one can. Press it onto its mate joining them together. Repeat with additional cans until all 3 cans are glued tightly together. Place fabric ribbon around all three and glue where they touch the cans and each other. (The ribbon is purely decorative and doesn’t really provide any structural support in holding the cans together.) I suppose you could wrap the cans in some tight fishing line if you wanted more support, before putting the ribbon over it.

Using toilet paper tubes as dividers in the larger of the cans allows you to separate pencils from pens from highlighters from colored pencils etc.

As time goes on and you use this caddy more and more you’ll realize what you want to add. With a first grader we ended up making sure glue and a huge eraser were added. There are of course tons of other products out there that help solve this need. I’ve seen them made with plastic shower caddies and those are nice because of the handle. I’m sure this won’t last forever but it’s gotten 3 good years thus far.

Hello Kindergarten and hello new friends. Did you realize that as your little peanut gets ready to start the journey of education you’re about to begin the journey as “so in so’s mom/dad”. Not only will your little one be making friends that may last the next 13 years and maybe beyond but you are too.

My oldest started last year on this journey and I figured I needed some new people in my village and tribe. Ones who can talk shop with me when it comes to school politics, policy, and scoop. I kept my ears open in August kinda hoping that the school, PTG, or 1st grade parents might host something like this. But with no avail I set out to do it on my own.

It was pretty easy. Picked a local coffee shop that was between all the elementary schools, had parking and an area to sit. I wanted to include all the elementary schools as my town has more than one. It made sense because as our kids grow the schools merge; plus the more the merrier. I made a public Facebook event grabbed as many emails as I could from school correspondences and Pre-K friends and hit invite.

I decided hosting it at a local coffee shop was the easiest. It would have been awkward for people to come to my house. What I really liked is that it was no stress for me. I didn’t have to buy supplies for coffee and food. I left purchase up to each person and they could keep whatever time table they wanted.

The event invitation was worded as so…”Do you have a child entering Kindergarten this fall at insert school names here? Doesn’t matter if it is your first, last, or one in-between. Join other parents in a quick sip before you head to work or start the day. Consider it a chance to meet others who will be walking the same path of school for the next 13 years. Tissues will be provided but Tea & Coffee will be up to you. Tell your friends and share the invite.” Set the invite for 10-15 min pass the school bell which allows those that put kids on the bus to get there first; those that drop off to get out of the parking lot, and those of us that followed the bus just to sneak a peak time to drive by.

I did call the coffee shop ahead of time to see if they could do something special for us and to let them know we were coming. Honestly, I had no idea how many people would come. I also made special tissue boxes figuring it could be an ice breaker and let those arriving know where all the Kindergarten parents were. FREE download below.

It worked out great. We had a good group; some came and left on their way to work, some stayed for over an hour and had breakfast. Doing it at school would have been crazy as our schools don’t have tons of parking and teachers and parents are already a bit on edge taking care of our kids and teaching them the ropes.

So now as a first grade mom; I’ll keep my eyes pealed on the first day, for those taking a few extra pictures, giving a few extra hugs and extend a tissue and an invite to coffee.

Have a great school year!

If you are interested in a FREE tissue box wrap download them here.. You only need to print 2 pages per box so pick your favorite color combos. Print them on regular paper and trim the edges. A little scotch tape and you’re done. These tags are designed for the square boxes not individual packets nor rectangular boxes.

Looking for other back to school ideas and tips? Try reading Back to School. Which is all about how to be prepared in the AM and for the year.